Nintendo has announced Metroid Prime Remastered for Nintendo Switch, a remaster of the GameCube classic that is available now via the eShop today, and will be getting a physical retail release on 3rd March 2023. The remaster is priced at $39.99 / £34.99.
It’s a pretty comprehensive looking remaster, taking the original and making some quite significant graphical improvements along the way. Put side-by-side with the GameCube version and you’ll see greatly improved environmental and character models and textures, and better lighting that the Nintendo Switch can provide.
The remaster will feature both updated and classic control schemes, so old hands will be able to dive right back into the action. As a first 3D adventure for Samus in the early 2000s, the original controls are naturally a bit different to what you might expect from a modern shooter, though this remaster does seem to still have a heavy use of enemy lock-on.
This is one part of a long-rumoured Metroid Prime Trilogy remaster, but given the extent of the rework it makes sense for Nintendo to choose to release these games individually, building up to Metroid Prime 4. Sadly there were no updates on how Metroid Prime 4 is progressing, the game’s development having dragged out for far longer than we might have expected when it was originally announced in 2017. Metroid Prime development was rebooted in 2019 at Retro Studios, but four years later we’ve heard nothing more about this game.
